S’pore, Japan upgrade ties to strategic partnership

Singapore and Japan deepen cooperation in AI, green transition, and more, upgrading ties to a strategic partnership on their 60th anniversary. Read more at straitstimes.com.

TOKYO - Singapore and Japan have upgraded their bilateral ties, with deeper cooperation planned in a wide range of areas from artificial intelligence to the green transition.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced on March 18 that the two countries have elevated their ties to a strategic partnership, in conjunction with the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

The strategic partnership will deepen the foundations of the substantive and multifaceted relationship between both countries, and expand cooperation in five forward-looking areas, said a joint statement issued after both leaders and their delegations met at the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo.

These areas are: promoting free trade and economic cooperation; digitalisation and technology; security and defence; green transition and energy cooperation; and partnership and exchanges.

Among the new agreements was the establishment of an information and communications technology policy dialogue between Singapore’s Ministry of Digital Development and Information and its Japanese counterpart.

This will let both sides to explore cooperation in the digital fields, including digital infrastructure development, said the statement.